A popular science lecture was organised at Nehru Science Centre on 17th January, 2020. The lecture was delivered by Dr. Mala Kaneria, Jaslok Hospital on the topic “Antibiotic misuse and rise of Superbugs”. About 290 visitors including students, teachers and general visitors attended the lecture.

On 21st and 22nd January, 2020, Dr. Guru Madhavan, Biomedical System Engineer, Norman R. Augustine, Senior Scholar & Director of Programmes, National Academy of Engineering, Washington DC USA delivered the lectures on the topic “Engineering for better health” for general visitors & college students and for school students respectively. Around 304 students, teachers and general visitors attended the lecture programmes.

On 23rd January, 2020 another lecture was organised. The lecture was delivered by Dr. Rahul Tambe, Senior Consultant Internal Medicine Nanavati Super speciality Hospital, Mumbai. The topic of the lecture was “Superbugs & Antibiotics: The present & future”. In his lecture he talked about the various infectious diseases that accounts for loss of lives in India and how to stop the misuse of antibiotics for safer future generation.About 318 students, teachers and general public attended the lectures.

Slogan writing contest

Slogan writing contest on the theme “The bacterial world and its impact was organised for the students of std. 8th to 10th on 17th January, 2020. 5 students were invited from a school to participate in the contest. 24 students participated in the contest.

Street plays

As a part of public awareness and educational programme of Superbugs exhibition, 6 street plays on the topic “Superbugs: The End of antibiotics? were organised at the local railway stations of Andheri, Bandra and Dadar as per the following details :

·2 street plays were organised at Andheri local stations on 3rd January, 2020. The street plays were performed by the artists of Natyashala Charity Trust, Mumbai. Around 3500 general visitors watched the street plays.

·2 street plays were also organised at Bandra local stations on 17th January, 2020. The street plays were performed by the artists of Natyashala Charity Trust, Mumbai. Around 2700 general visitors watched the street plays.

·2 more street plays were organised at Dadar station on 24th January, 2020. The street plays were performed by the artists of Natyashala Charity Trust, Mumbai. Around 2200 general visitors watched the street plays.

Treasure Hunt Contest

Treasure hunt contest on the exhibition Superbugs: The End of Antibiotics ? was organised at the Centre on 23rd January, 2020. Students were given different clues based on the exhibition and asked them to search the answers for the clues from the exhibition. 14 students participated in the contest.

Hand wash Workshop cum Demonstrations

The Centre in active collaboration with Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing, organised hand washing demonstrations in the premise of Nehru Science Centre during 20 – 25 January 2020 with a purpose to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.

These hand wash demonstrations were organised during the display of traveling exhibition 'Superbugs - The end of Antibiotics?’. The exhibition is an attempt to enhance the understanding of antibiotic resistance in India. The exhibition also speaks about the research happening around the world to take up this challenge in the form of exploring new antibiotics, diagnostics and alternative treatments.

In all 16 hand wash demonstrations were organised for Public and Municipal corporation Schools and College students, underprivileged children, general visitors etc. In all 727 students and visitors took an advantage of this opportunity. During the programme a film was screened for the participants on theme ‘How to hand-wash? – with soap and water’. Information posters on the Haffkine Institute & proper hand wash techniques were on display during the programme. A team of Officials from Haffkine Institute conducted these demonstrations. NSCM has made a special arrangement to show microbes for the participants with the help of LASER gun with dirt adulterated water sample from hands. Also to show them practically that how these microbes and infections spread through hand contact, an effective tool called Glo-Germ gel was used to demonstrate hand-washing, health and hygiene techniques.

Cartoon drawing workshop cum contest

The Centre organised a Cartoon workshop cum contest on Superbugs for the school students of std. 5th to 10th on 22nd January, 2020. 2 students from a school were invited to participate in the workshop. The workshop was conducted by Shri Abhishek Mhatre, resource person from J. J. School of Arts, Mumbai. The cartoons drawn by the students were also evaluated for the award of prizes. 26 student participated in the contest.

Written Quiz on Superbugs Exhibition

A written quiz on the Superbugs exhibition was organised at the Centre on 22nd January, 2020 for school students of Std. 8th to 10th. 2 students from a school were invited to participate in the quiz. 40 Multiple choice questions based on the exhibition were given and students were asked to select and mark the correct answers out of the 4 options. 41 students participated in the written quiz.

Open House Quiz

9 Open house quiz were organised for 259 high school, college students, teachers, underprivileged children and general visitors from 13th to 25th January 2020.

Constitution Day :

The Centre celebrated Constitution Day on 25th January 2020, as a part of year-long celebration, by organising Open House Quiz and Film Show for 273 students, teachers & general public.

Workshops on Microbiology

As a part of various activities associated with the exhibition on "Superbugs", two Microbiology workshops were conducted.

1.The first was for homemakers on 18th and 19th January 2020.

2.The second was for school students of standard IXth on 20th and 21st January 2020.

Both the workshops created awareness about the invisible world of microbes. The participants had hands-on experience on the techniques of Microbiology such as staining, asepsis and inoculation. They observed bacteria, algae and fungi under the microscope and studied microorganisms present in air, on skin and in the spit. They were also shown a simple technique of observing organisms using laser beam. The homemakers were mostly from non-science background and were enthusiastic to perform practical after a long gap. They were also fascinated to actually observe the microbes. The school students had mostly read about microorganisms but didn't actually see them and were excited to see the colonies of bacteria/growth of bacteria. Importance of hygiene was emphasized. The participants assured to spread the awareness of the workshop to their colleagues. In all 14 homemakers and 21 school students participated in the workshops. Dr. Mugdha Apte and Dr. Padmaja Damle from Concepts Unlimited were the resource persons

Audience Research Workshop

The Audience Research Workshop was conducted at the Centre during 'Superbugs' Exhibition for focus groups such as school/college students and underprivileged children etc. with a purpose to learn the apprehension of the theme and what message they take with them. Till today 3 workshops were conducted for focus groups such as underprivileged children, School students, Science College Students respectively on 16th, 21st & 28th January 2020. All the participants were introduced to the exhibition ’Superbugs - the end of antibiotics?' through a guided visit. Various questions based on the exhibition were asked to the audience and their feedback was recorded. In all 46 students participated in this research.

Human Chain Formation

The Centre organised Human Chain Formation by school/college students on 30th January 2020 to make the people aware about the antibacterial resistance challenge. This programme was arranged during 'Superbugs - the end of antibiotics?'. 210 students from Green Lawns School, Maratha Mandir Babasaheb Gawade School and Industrial Training Institute, Lower Parel actively participated in the programme organised at Worli Sea face. The participants raised slogans related to the topic and waved placards as well to attract the visitors nearby.

Crossword Puzzle on Superbugs: The End of Antibiotics?

Crossword puzzle on Superbugs exhibition for the visitors was organised on 13th January, 2020. The participants were given the guided tour of the exhibition before participating. 28 visitors took part in the crossword puzzle.

Semi-final rounds of English medium schools

2 Semi-final rounds of inter-school science quiz contest for English medium schools were conducted on 18th and 20th January, 2020. 32 students from 8 schools contested for qualifying for the Final round. 20 parents and teachers witnessed the quiz rounds. The quiz rounds were organised in collaboration with Rotary Club of Bombay Pier and Rotary Club of Queen City. The selected top 4 teams from the semi-final rounds will play the final round on 1st February, 2020.

Mobile Science Exhibition on Curriculum based

Mobile Science Exhibition (MSE) programme on curriculum based was started in the schools of Palghar district from 14th November, 2019. During the month of January, 2020 the MSE bus covered 12 sites (upto 21st January, 2020). Apart from exhibition, science film shows, science shows, were also organized.

Mobile Science Exhibition on the theme “Hygiene and Sanitation”

Mobile Science Exhibition (MSE) on the theme “Hygiene and Sanitation” was started in Aspirational district Osmanabad from 20th November, 2019. During the month of January, 2020 the MSE bus has covered 13 sites in Osmanabad district. The exhibition will be organized till first week of February, 2020. Apart from exhibition, science film shows, sky observation, science shows, AR/VR shows etc. are also being organized.

Outreach SDL programme

An outreach SDL programme was organised at Sahitya Sahavas, Bandra on 25th January 2020. 137 people witnessed the demonstrations on theme liquid nitrogen and fun with science.

SCI-Birthday

The Centre organised 2 SCI-Birthday programmes on 11th & 19th January, 2020.In all 50 kids, parents along with their host participated in the programme. The participants were taken to various facilities of the Centre and given special shows.

Package Tour

During the month, 44 package tours were organized for about 6132 students and teachers. They were given the guided tour of the galleries, Science Show and Science On a Sphere show.